There are plenty of players in California that would play for Pac12 teams. Where the Pac12 is lacking is in fan support. Home games and away. Stanford home games are pathetic for a university that has had such a long run of success. Cal's stadium, outside of the boxes up top which are really cool, needs a lot of help, but fan support is dismal there too. As my Cal sister put it, Cal is a really large commuter school. Most people don't live on or even around campus due to expense. USC has been horrific at hiring football coaches and backed in to its most successful hire after several candidates turned them down. They finally hired an AD that is good at his job and not a USC alum. UCLA is vacant at the very top of its leadership, but they too hired an AD that is good at his job. The two biggest con jobs are the Arizona schools. ASU AD Ray Anderson fired Todd Graham after going 7-5 in the regular season, saying that fans should expect more. Enter Herm Edwards who has gone 7-5 in the regular season two years straight, but somehow has sold the world that there has been massive improvement. Arizona is stuck with a contract they can't afford to buy out as Kevin Sumlin has gone 6-12 in conference over the last two years. Their best defenders have left for programs that committed to play during the Covid era and they are piecing together offensive and defensive lines with JC help. Oregon is solid and probably the best positioned to contend on a national level. Great fan support. Washington was in great shape under the Peterson era, jury is out on the Lake era. Also, great fan support. Jonathan Smith has proven to be a sneaky good hire. Washington State basically hired Leach 2.0 with Rolovich, great offensive mind that will try to win by outscoring you. UCLA hired Karl Dorrell at a very young age because he showed promise. Pete Carroll had a few missteps before becoming the coach he is today. Sometimes you can't rush the maturation of a coach. I like the swing by Colorado but its a risk they need to pay off. Utah is solid in every way and I love that Poly pipeline.
Remember there was a time not that long ago that Alabama hired Mike Price just as he entered temporary insanity, then was coming off a 6-6 Mike Shula coached season, and backed in to Nick Saban that was a failure at the Pro level.